Lennox's Perspective
by Jaz L
Summary: (Sorry for the really lame title but i can't come up with anything else right now seeing as i'm not exactly sure where this story is going!) This story is in Lennox's perspective, as she struggles with her life, school and home. I might include some M&J moments, not sure yet! This is my first ever story that i'm publishing so please give me some lee-way! thanks!
1. Chapter 1 - the beginning

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** **Please review and let me know if i should carry on with this story! thank you! i will most probably update every two-three days, depending on how busy i am! Thank you for reading, also if you have any suggestions for a better title, please let me know!**

Lennox typed her homework onto her laptop before saving and printing it. She glanced at her open door and noticed the corridor was empty, she got out of her chair and made her way over, double checking she had saved her work. She passed her brother's bedroom, where Ryder was on the phone, to his new girlfriend no doubt, and continued down the stairs into the kitchen. The kitchen was empty too, which was a relief and Lennox grabbed a sandwich from the fridge that she had made earlier. She stuffed it into her mouth and stealthily walked back up the stairs and slipped into her bedroom. No one had noticed her, this was very good. Her Aunt Mel was watching tv in the lounge and was also most likely yelling at their male nanny, Joe. Her Aunt and Joe argued a lot, very loudly, but Lennox knew that deep down, they cared for each other more then they would admit. She shoved her homework into her bag, crumpling it up in the process and decided to continue on her blog.

Later at school, she handed in her homework with a sigh of relief. _Its over._ She thought, _I never have to worry about it again._ She skipped lunch today, because she wasn't hungry, also the school lunches were disgusting. Joe picked her and Ryder up from school, like everyday, but no one said much on the ride home. Ryder was busy texting, again, probably to his possessive girlfriend who took up all of his time, not that Lennox cared that much anyway. Lennox sat at the back, chewing on her fingernails and refusing to reply to any of the conversation starters that Joe had come up with. When they got home, she stormed past her Aunt, who for some reason was home from work early, and ran up the stairs to her bedroom. She shut the door as loudly as she could and flopped onto her bed, exhausted. She could still hear Mel and Joe talking though, and she strained her ears, keen on listening.

"I'm worried about both of them," Mel was saying, there was a pause before she continued (probably having a sip from her wine glass), "I mean Lennox barely talks to me these days and Ryder spends all his time with his girlfriend."

"I know, me too, I think we should talk them, maybe spend a little family time together," Joe replied, sounding concerned.

 _Wow,_ Lennox thought, _they are actually agreeing on something for once._

"I don't think that would be a good idea, you know what Lennox is like, she won't talk to us if we ask her to." They then went back to their normal arguing and Lennox stopped listening.

It was something that her Aunt had said that kept bothering her, _"You know what Lennox is like,"_ it was as if Mel was talking about something more then her not talking to them. She was a problem, something that had to be fixed. Overcome with stress and confusion, Lennox went to sleep early that night, forgetting about her dinner. She woke two hours later, by her Aunt shaking her gently and whispering, "Sweetheart, dinner's ready, Joe made your favourite!"

Lennox yawned and stretched and muttered something like, "OK, will be down in a minute," and stumbled out of bed. Despite of skipping lunch that day, she still wasn't hungry and she managed to force a couple of bites down her throat. There was no conversation at the table today, which was very strange since Joe and Mel normally always were arguing about something at dinner time. Instead, Lennox looked around the table and noticed things she had missed before, such as her Aunt giving Joe these longing looks, whenever he wasn't looking. Ryder wasn't even with his phone tonight, he was looking at his plate, playing with his food and staring into space, all at the same time. Joe was oblivious to the looks that Mel was giving him and he munched on his food noisily. Finally the silence was broken when Mel said through gritted teeth to Joe, "Do you have to be such a loud chewer?" Joe retaliated and their sarky comments went back and forth, like usual. Lennox realized she _had_ to talk to her Aunt and ask her what was up with the looks she was giving Joe. She wasn't prepared to give up easily and she cleared her throat loudly, as this was the first sound she had made to either of them all day, they immediately stopped yelling at looked at her expectantly. "Aunt Mel?" She asked, her voice shaking slightly from lack of use, "I have to talk to you, in private."

"Of course, Sweetie!" Aunt Mel replied brightly, trying so hard to hide the happiness in her face. She glared at Joe as if to say, _see I was right!_ Then she got up and Lennox followed her into the lounge.

"Aunt Mel, I need to ask you something, its not about me, its about you… and Joe," Lennox proceeded, slowly waiting for her Aunt's response.


	2. Chapter 2 - problems

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** **Here is the second chapter, finally! I hope you enjoy it, because i enjoyed writing it. :) wow... that sounded cheesy! Anyway not much happens in this chapter, mainly it's just Lennox and Mel talking but you find out what has been bothering Lennox! Please, please, please review even if you are just a guest! I need to know if you guys are enjoying this or not!**

Lennox noted that Aunt Mel had avoided her question by replying with a response of, "Nothing, just you know, I was staring at his food, yes his food. Anyway enough about me, what's the deal with you?"

Lennox sighed, she knew this had been coming, she supposed it was best to tell her Aunt the truth, before she heard it off the street from some random stranger. "I um may have some small problems at school," she decided to start it off like that and see how her Aunt responded.

"Yes, please continue," her aunt replied, trying to take in as much detail as she could.

"Well, I…" Lennox paused, could she really do this? Could she really just open up to her aunt and tell her everything? She then thought of everyone around her, the adults she knew that had failed in life, like her mum and her dad, did she want to end up like them? "Well I'm going out with a boy in my year and he's cool but maybe I only like him as a friend, and maybe I like another boy who is in my class. When we started going out, it was OK, it was good, I mean a _lot_ of people started teasing us, and noticing and saying lots of things but I used to like him, now I don't like him anymore. The teasing has stopped but now I'm worried that…"

"You're worried that if you break up with him, people will butt into your personal life again, that the teasing will start all over?" Mel finished for her, with a look of astonishment on Lennox's face.

"Um yeah," Lennox stammered, "How did you know that?"

"Because I guessed, I'm good with these sorts of things," Aunt Mel replied, smiling gently at Lennox.

"It's not only that," Lennox continued, "I'm stressed out about exams at school and the whole sticky situation with my parents. I love living here, Aunt Mel, maybe I love it even more then my old life but I'm scared that someday soon, my mum or my dad will come here and take me away." Lennox then realised that she had never opened up to anyone like that before; she had practically spilled her guts out.

Her aunt nodded and replied, "Sweetheart, your mum still has years left in her prison sentence and you'll be eighteen in a couple of months, then you can do whatever you want! Your dad is still on the run from the police, I doubt he would show his face up here as long as Joe is living under this roof. I wouldn't worry about either of them, but remember that they are still your parents and they still love you. About the situation at school, you should follow your heart but remain with your head. I can't decide for you but I would break up with this boy, who cares what anyone else says?"

Lennox smiled, her aunt had great advice, and she didn't know why she hadn't come to her earlier. "Thanks Aunt Mel, you're the best!" Lennox grinned at her and gave her a big hug before dashing off to her room. She hadn't found out what the deal was between her aunt and Joe but at least she had found a solution to her problems. She stayed up late that night, thinking about the best way to break up with her boyfriend, however she felt refreshed and ready to go when she woke up in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3 - Awkwardness

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** **here is the third chapter! thank you all for reading this FanFiction and for giving it a chance! Please review, you don't understand how much i would appreciate it if you did! This chapter is quite short but i hope you like it! Thanks for reading and please say something in the reviewing box, anything! Enjoy :)**

Lennox yawned as she trudged down the stairs in her green pyjamas, thinking of the delicious breakfast Joe would have made for her and how hungry she was. She reached the bottom of the stairs and was just about to make her entrance noticed when she saw Mel and Joe in the kitchen. Her curiosity got the better of her and she stayed quiet, intent on listening, she wanted to know what they were talking about.

"I think that we should give it a try," Joe was saying.

"Are you nuts?" Mel asked him, "It would never work, it would be too weird and too risky, and we could get caught!"

"Caught? We aren't doing anything wrong, Burke…"

"Yeah but we aren't exactly doing anything right." Mel finished for him.

Finally Lennox couldn't stand it anymore; she cleared her throat and entered the room, not expecting to see what she saw. Mel and Joe were standing about two centimetres apart and the moment Lennox came in the room, they practically leapt away from each other with lightning speed.

"Um hey Sweetie, you ok? Joe made us bagels for breakfast!" Mel hastily said, deliberately avoiding awkward eye contact with anyone.

They were acting very strangely, seriously, what the hell were they up to? Lennox quickly replied to her Aunt, mumbling something about being fine and that it was a beautiful day before sitting down to the table for breakfast. It was at that moment that Mel decided that she had to get to work early for a "Business meeting" or something like that and disappeared out of the door. The rest of breakfast was eaten in a very awkward silence and nothing more was said when Joe drove Ryder and Lennox to school that morning.

In fact, Lennox was so wrapped up about her thoughts on that morning during school that she totally forgot to break up with her boyfriend and she nearly jumped out of her skin when he came and put her arm around her at lunch. She muttered to him something about homework due next period that she hadn't done and dashed off before he could protest. One of her best friends, Lilah managed to distract him for her so that she could do "her homework." The truth was, Lennox did have homework due next period that she hadn't done but she concentrated so much on the possibilities about what Mel and Joe were talking about that she didn't do it at all and only realised this after she was kicked out of the library after closing time.

Just before the bell went for next period, Lennox sent a quick text to Joe, telling him she would get the bus back today as she was in detention. The next two hours at school were spent by either doodling in her notebook, texting under the table or thinking and wondering. Mr Vibe, the teacher who was taking detention that day didn't even notice that Lennox had left the classroom two minutes before the detention had ended.


	4. Chapter 4 - Secrets and Plans

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** **I have a really good idea (in my opinion) for the next few chapters and i think that it will work out great! Please read this chapter and let me know what you think! :))**

It was after dinner, about 9:15pm that night, which the idea sprung into Lennox's head. She was just doing her French homework almost falling asleep at her computer, when she realised something. She knew that for years now, Mel and Joe had loved each other, but they were way too stubborn to admit it, so all she had to do was come up with a plan to get them together! She would need help of course, from Ryder, but that would be easy, she could just threaten or blackmail him or something. She raced into Ryder's room forgetting to knock and burst in on Ryder with his girlfriend, kissing in a corner. "Ugh, gross! Sorry!" She moaned and then quickly backed out of the room. She would have to tell him in the morning, which meant that she could spend the rest of the night jotting down ideas in her notebook for as how she could get Mel and Joe together.

She grabbed a pen and wrote: **Ideas for M &J**, knowing that she would have to keep this from them. The best thing was to make sure that they were alone and neither Ryder nor her came and interrupted them like they had before on several occasions. It would have to be at the right setting as well and both of them of course had to be single; Lennox could fix that in a few minutes. Maybe she could lock them in the basement and "accidentally" lose the keys, either they would strangle each other and die or they would admit their true feelings for each other. Lennox decided that either situation wasn't so bad so unless she came up with a better idea, she was going to do that. By about 1:00am, Lennox was lying on her bed fast asleep with the notebook slipping out of her hands. It read:

 **Ideas for M &J**

1\. Make sure they are alone – Ryder and I WON'T interrupt them.

2\. Deal with any girlfriends/boyfriends they currently have by bad mouthing them to their dates.

3\. Blackmail Ryder into helping.

4\. Choose the right time, when they are both in the house, maybe in the evening and accidently lock them in the basement. I will lure Aunt Mel in and Ryder will get Joe to go in there then I will lock the basement, "forgetting" that they're in there and "accidently" "lose" the keys.

5\. We will keep them in there until they either strangle each other or tell each other how they really feel.

6\. Depending on the outcome, congratulate myself and pat Ryder on the head for being a good boy.

At breakfast the next day, Lennox shoved her meal down her throat as quickly as possible, grabbed Ryder by the collar and hauled him up the stairs before her aunt or Joe could protest. She locked them in her room and took a deep breath before saying, "Ryder, I need your help. I'm plotting to get Mel and Joe together but it will only work if you're in." She had to practically choke the words out; it was a rare occasion she asked him for anything.

"Why would I help you?" He asked, smiling slightly.

"Ah, well if you don't I will post your browsing history on my Instagram, twitter, Facebook and my blog!" she grinned triumphantly, knowing there was no way he could refuse.

He gritted his teeth, his face a look of surprise and managed to say, "Fine! I'm in! What do I have to do?"

The next ten minutes was spent revising the plan that Lennox had written up last night. "We're doing it tonight," She whispered, "As soon as Aunt Mel comes home and has had her glass of wine, you stick to your side of the plan and get Joe in the basement, make sure you're not in there with him. I will then get Aunt Mel to come in and we lock the door. Understood?" She asked her brother, hoping desperately this plan of hers would work.

Ryder nodded and they rushed down the stairs, where an impatient Joe was waiting for them. Despite the fact they would be late for school and would probably get told off, Lennox knew it would be worth it in the end. 


	5. Chapter 5 - Operation Basement

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** **I really like this chapter and i tried to make it as long as I could! There is a lot of dialogue in this chapter and normally i don't like to do that because it holds up the story however i think the dialogue is interesting and vital to the story! Its not really funny but it was the best i could do off the top of my head! Ok so read, enjoy and comment on any ideas/suggestions or thoughts you have! thank you! :)**

At lunch time, school, Lennox paid some spare change in order to use the school's phone, she didn't want to make these calls on her mobile in case the people she called wanted to call her back, and she needed to call Mel and Joe's dates. She had stolen their numbers from Mel's and Joe's phones earlier that morning, and she anxiously chewed her lip as the phone dialled. She laid on all of her acting skills in hope that it would work, she told Joe's shallow girlfriend that Joe had cheated on her, pretty soon Joe was going to receive a phone call telling him he was dumped. She told Mel's boyfriend that she herself was Mel's secretary and she insisted that Mel wanted to break up with him but she was too busy to do it herself. Lennox felt kind of bad for breaking them up but Mel and Joe were right for each other and she was really only doing them a favour.

She texted Ryder that so far the plan was working and that as soon as they got home from school it would be time for: Operation Basement, (Ryder came up with the name, naturally.) In her next period, history, she didn't listen at all; she was busy daydreaming about how successfully their plan would work. She was also daydreaming about a certain boy who was sitting in the row in front of hers, realising that she _still_ hadn't broken up with her boyfriend yet.

On the way home, neither Ryder nor Lennox said anything; they kept giving each other these looks that said:

Lennox: _I hope the plan works out fine!_

Ryder: _I'm sure it will, we are geniuses_

Lennox: _I hope so, we will find out sooner or later._

Sometimes it was amazing at how much the siblings understood each other; they were constantly arguing but really they knew exactly what the other was thinking. When the car arrived in the drive, they burst through the door, relieved to see that aunt Mel was already here.

"Oh good, you're here!" Lennox said, whilst smiling triumphantly.

Her aunt gave her a confused look and Lennox hastily added, "Because, I'm so glad to see you!"

Thankfully, her aunt seemed to buy it. Joe started to prepare dinner for later and Lennox saw that now was her chance to get them in the basement. She looked at Ryder; they both knew what to do.

"Um Aunt Mel?" She asked, trying to sound curious and innocent.

"Yes honey?" Her aunt replied, not looking up from her magazine.

"I uh I think I saw some uh wine in the basement! I saw multiple bottles down there and I was thinking you could probably go and check it out! But you need to hurry as they will disappear soon…" She silently cursed herself for the last sentence, wine bottles don't disappear!

Without saying another word, her aunt vanished to the basement to see the "wine." Lennox pretended to be interested in the magazine her aunt had been reading and she quickly glared at Ryder.

"Joe?" Ryder asked.

"Yeah, Ryder?" Joe replied.

"Umm my school project is down in the basement and I want you to come and lift it for me as it is really heavy! You have to do it right now thought because I need to take a picture of it to show my girlfriend like right now!"

Joe understood how demanding Ryder's girlfriend could be and immediately went down to the basement. Ryder pretended to follow him, and quickly grabbed the keys from the countertop. It was possible to hear Aunt Mel yelling, "Lennox, where is the wine?" from down below but she was ignored. As soon as Joe was inside, they shut the door and locked it, trying to make as least amount of noise as possible.

About 10 minutes later, you could hear banging and yelling on the door. "Oops! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I didn't realise you two were still in there," Lennox yelled, filling her voice with sympathy. "Hold on one minute," she continued, "I'm just going to find the keys." She made a great attempt at making lots of rustling sounds as if she were searching for the key. "Ryder, have you seen the key? I think I've lost it!" she yelled, loud enough for Mel and Joe to hear.

"No I haven't seen it! Oh no Lennox how could you lose them? Mel and Joe are now stuck inside the basement!" Ryder yelled back, grinning from ear to ear.

"Sorry guys! You are stuck inside the basement until we find the keys! I'm sure you can find something fun to do right?" Lennox shouted to them.

There were a lot of muffled complaints and yells that were hard to hear through the walls. Lennox and Ryder just sat back and grinned, knowing what they had to do now. Last year, Joe had installed cameras all around the house including the basement and through Lennox's computer, they could see everything that was going on in there. Lennox kept her computer on and after ten minutes of the usual back and forth between them, Ryder got bored and left, making Lennox swear that she would call him if anything interesting happened. After a while Lennox too, started to get bored and she decided to write some more on her blog, but she still kept the footage going.


	6. Chapter 6 - Did it work?

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** **Ok so i really hope that you enjoy this chapter and i think that it has a nice ending! I'm going away for like 8 days so i won't be able to upload anything until i get back which i'm really sorry about, but there's nothing i can do! i will probably have one more chapter after this and then the story will be finished! Please let me know what you think of it! :) . I will be writing other stories after this one as well, so look out for them once i have uploaded the next chapter! Thanks! :D**

Finally, after a while, the yelling through her computer stopped and she flicked the screen back to the camera. It showed Mel and Joe sitting on the floor together, and they were whispering.

"Ryder!" Lennox yelled, "Get in here, stat!"

A few seconds later, Ryder dashed into the room and appeared at her side, eager to watch what was going on.

"I just don't know what to do anymore, I mean work is starting to become a lot stressful, I'm now single, again and the kids are barely talking to me these days! Ugh, I must be drunk if I'm saying this but I'm really glad you're here, Joe." Mel whispered as tears started to form in her eyes whilst she raised her wine glass.

Joe smiled in the dark room and whispered back, "Yeah I know what you mean, I got dumped today too, even though I didn't do anything! Lennox spends most of her time in detention and she doesn't even say hi to me anymore, I thought you two talked and sorted everything out?"

"I thought so too, but apparently she was holding back in our conversation. I'm not sure how to help her Joe. I love Ryder and Lennox to the moon and back but I just feel like I need a break sometimes, you know? I guess it doesn't help that I'm working a lot as well, I mean I know I'm home early sometimes but I still have to work at home."

They sat in silence for a while, just sipping from their wine glasses and thinking. Every few minutes or so, they would lock eyes and then look away, the tension and awkwardness became almost unbearable for both of them.

Mel cleared her throat and began to speak, "so um, do you think Lennox and Ryder would have found the key yet? It's been like four hours!" She laughed nervously.

"Knowing them, they've probably given up and are watching a soap on TV! But you know, the time in here hasn't been that bad. I mean sure we argue, like a lot, but it was kinda cool hanging out with you without the kids or anyone else…" Joe's voice trailed off after he realised he had said too much.

They locked eyes again and this time neither of them looked away. "Joe," Mel's voice was barely audible, "I love you."

Lennox started squealing like and cheering so much that she started hyper-ventilating when she watched it on the computer. "Calm down!" Ryder ordered, "You're gonna miss the rest of it!"

Joe was clearly shocked, for five whole seconds he didn't say anything as it took time in his brain for it to be registered what Mel had just said. When he managed to speak again he whispered, "I love you too."

Then he leaned in and kissed her.


End file.
